The present invention relates to an ambulance cot and loading and unloading system and method of loading and unloading a cot into and out of an ambulance.
When loading a cot into an ambulance, an emergency medical service (EMS) attendant typically aligns the cot with the open rear doors of the ambulance and then pushes the cot toward the ambulance so that the head end of the cot is supported at the opening of the ambulance. Once supported at the head end of the cot, the EMS attendant, while supporting the foot end of the cot, raises the legs of the cot so that the cot can then be pushed into the ambulance. However, as noted this typically requires the EMS personnel to support the foot end of the cot and typically until most of the cot is loaded into the ambulance. In some cases, the head end of the cot may need to be lifted before insertion. With this scenario, the assistance of a second attendant is required. The removal process is much the same, except in reverse—namely, the cot is pulled from the opened rear doors of the ambulance, which requires the attendant to support the foot end of the cot while the cot is pulled out of the ambulance. As soon as the folded legs clear the back of the ambulance, the legs can then be lowered. Again, this requires the attendant to support the cot while the cot is being pulled from the ambulance and until the legs can be lowered. This process is strenuous and could expose the EMS personnel to injury especially when dealing with heavy patients.
Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the stress and strain to EMS personnel during the loading and unloading of a cot.